Dissident republican terrorists have forced one of Northern Ireland's most high-profile judges out of his Belfast home.

Seamus Treacy's house has been bought under the Northern Ireland Housing Executive's special purchase of evacuated dwellings scheme, and is listed for sale with a Belfast estate agent at £650,000.

Mr Justice Treacy's decision to leave his house comes less than a week after the governor of Maghaberry prison, Northern Ireland's top security jail, left the province amid fears for his personal security.

Steve Rodford's home address and car registration were found in a cell housing republican dissident prisoners.

In September, a pipe bomb was found close to Treacy's home.

It was discovered on the same day that he jailed three men involved in a plot to kill police officers with a mortar bomb in Lurgan, County Armagh, in April 2007. At the time, police said they believed the trio were members of the Continuity IRA.

A Lord Chief Justice's Office spokesman said it did not comment on security matters.

In November, it was reported that judges in Northern Ireland have had to step up their security arrangements because of to the increased threat posed by dissident republicans.

That month, the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC), which tracks the activities of paramilitary groups, said the dissident threat was at its highest level for almost six years.

The IMC said the two main dissident republican groups – the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA – were working more closely together to increase the threat posed to security forces.

Before being appointed as a high court judge, Treacy was one of Northern Ireland's most experienced barristers.

While a QC in 2000, he successfully challenged the rule that barristers swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen before coming to the bar.

Treacy and his colleague Barry MacDonald claimed the declaration to serve the Queen discriminated against them as nationalists and was an affront to their political sensibilities.

During the Troubles, the Provisional IRA murdered three judges: Rory Conaghan in 1974; William Doyle in 1983; and Lord Justice Sir Maurice Gibson in 1987.